This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for heating, ventilating, cooling and regulating the temperature of rooms of a building including a facade that comprises a framework of hollow posts and hollow girders, mounting facade elements and possibly window areas arranged to be substantially free of heat bridges, sections of which hollow posts and hollow girders in each room are connected with one another in flow, in a fixed manner to conduct a heat transfer fluid and an air stream between a forward flow line and a return flow line. A facade of the type described is known as an integrated facade which combines the normal function of the facade construction with the requirements of heating, ventilating, cooling and regulating the temperature of the rooms of the building of which it forms a part (German Published Application No. AS 26 21 186). The posts and transverse girders of the facade framework are executed from hollow profiles which serve as supporting construction for the reception of glazing and railing panels. By the inclusion of the facade posts and girders in the circulation portion of a hot-water heating or cooling system and with their simultaneous connection to a ventilating system per the present invention there is created a system superior in hygienic, technical and economic respects.
In a known system of the prior art the transversely disposed girders are joined with the hollow posts by welding. This form of execution is expensive and difficult to execute because of the requirement for exact connection of the channels for conduction of the heat transfer fluid and of the air stream. In another known system (German Unexamined Patent Specification OS No. 28 57 662) the hollow girders are joined with the hollow posts so as to be free of welding places. This particular system is disadvantageous in that the adjacent hollow girders cannot be mounted in alignment with one another on their common post. In this case the adjacent transverse girders must be connected to their common post so as to be offset against one another, either in a vertical or a horizontal direction. This is due to the fact the girder fastening elements to be applied must be accessible on the side of the post most remote from the particular transverse girder to be connected. When using this type of joining of posts and girders there arise problems in static and esthetic respects.
One possibility considered for connecting transverse girders to the posts so as to align with one another consists in arranging and mounting the girder in each case with only one end in connection with a post. This construction is disadvantageous, in the first place, because with a one-sided support of the girders on the posts there arises an untightness or deterioration of the support of girders at the location of their connection. In the second place this arrangement is disadvantageous because in its use there occurs an uneconomical water circulation and difficulties in and poorer regulation of the heating or cooling system provided.
Underlying the invention is the problem of forming the posts of the framework in such a way that the loads of their own weight, wind, vibration, etc., increasing as the spacing of the posts increases, can be absorbed without substantially increasing the amount of heat transfer fluid that must be conducted through the posts while simultaneously insuring a simple joining of posts and girders.
According to the invention, the solution of this problem is characterized by constructing the hollow posts in two pieces or parts, in each part of which is provided channels for the conduction of the heat transfer fluid and of the air stream required. Through the two piece execution of the posts it becomes possible to bring the transverse girders meeting the posts, at respectively opposite sides thereof, in alignment with one another. This is due to the fact that the post parts, before their joining, are each freely accessible for the fastening thereto of the respective transverse girder to be applied. Subsequent to the assembly of their parts, the resulting hollow posts present the cross section required for static reasons, which must be dimensioned in dependence on the weight of the construction, the traffic loads and the loads from wind, snow, vibration, etc. With the execution of the hollow posts according to the invention, the transverse girders of the framework of which the posts form a part can be connected at both ends to hollow posts in a manner that the tightness of their connections is insured.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the post parts are constructed to be generally C-shaped. The shape and construction of the cross section of each post part provides it with a base leg and to or adjacent each of the respective ends of the base leg a freely projecting leg which is generally perpendicular thereto. The base leg has a double walled construction and embodies therein a channel for conducting a heat transfer fluid and a channel for conducting air. The two parts of each post which are C-shaped in cross section, are joined with one another along their free legs. Through this further development of the invention it is possible to provide for each of the hollow girders to be connected in each case to a channel for conducting heat transfer fluid and a separate channel for conducting an air stream. An important feature of the form of the cross section of the hollow posts so provided is that it yields a great moment of resistance and thereby provides, in its use, statically favorable values.
Advantageously the channel for the heat transfer fluid is arranged at one end of the base leg portion of each post part and the free cross section of the air conducting channel is made greater, by a multiple, than the free cross section of the channel for the heat transfer fluid. Through a provision that the cross section of the channels for the heat transfer fluid is small, the amount of heating or cooling fluid can be kept low in a system in accordance with the invention. This facilitates and provides for a rapid regulation and rapid heat transfer function of the heating or cooling fluid.
According to further features of the invention, the channels for conducting the heat transfer fluid are made circular in cross section and the air conducting channels are made substantially rectangular in cross section. With this arrangement, the base legs of the post parts in the region of the air conducting channels preferably are made to present corner recesses at the ends lying opposite the channels for the heat conveying fluid, for the installation, for example, of window frames.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the post parts are fabricated of aluminum.
The invention is described in detail in the following with the aid of examples of execution with reference to the drawing.
FIG. 1 shows schematically, in a front view, two adjacently arranged function fields of the facade of a house;
FIG. 2 an elevational section along the line II--II of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 a section through a hollow post along the line III--III of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 a section of a modified form of execution of a hollow post and
FIG. 5 a section through a railing girder.